When he learned that the defense zone in the east of the city had fallen into the hands of the Russians, Lieutenant Colonel Federman, the commander of the city defense, was shocked and let out a cold sweat. He quickly called the battalion commander of the armored battalion: "Major, the Russians have occupied many positions in the east of our city. I order you to dispatch tanks immediately and launch a counterattack against the Russians. Be sure to drive them out of the city."
Although there is an armored battalion in the city's defenders, there are actually only five tanks of various types. The armored battalion commander felt that the east might be attacked by the Soviet army, so he also assigned the only fire-breathing tank to the defense zone in the east of the city. However, they were not lucky and were killed by the Soviet army shortly after the battle started.
The tank battalion commander said to Federman in embarrassment: "Hissing Commander of the City Defense, we originally had only five tanks, including the fire-breathing tank, and I deployed two tanks in the east direction of the city. Who knew that the Russians killed all our tanks shortly after the battle started. Even if we transfer tanks from the other three directions, it would be useless. I think we should give up Donetsk, right?"
"Nonsense." Federman was immediately angry when he heard the tank battalion commander say this: "If you give up Donetsk without resistance, then you and I will wait to go to the military court. You immediately transfer all the tanks to the city center. Even if you can't stop the counterattack, I will rebuild my defense in the city."
The 124th Regiment captured the east of the city and entered the city continuously along the open gap in the defense line.
Sokov was overjoyed to learn that the enemy's defense had been broken. He first ordered the radio operator to report the good news to the Cluster Command far away in Lugansk. Then he asked Samoilov to take the guard platoon and go to the city with him to watch the grand occasion of capturing the entire city.
Samoilov knew Sokov's character and naturally would not stop him. Because he understood that even if he persuaded him, he would not have any effect. As an officer responsible for protecting him from his safety, all he could do was to strengthen the vigilance of the areas where Sokov went to and prevent him from being attacked by the enemy.
According to Starcha's idea, the first battalion, which was the main attacker, would definitely suffer heavy casualties after capturing the defense line east of the city. At this time, he could send the second or third battalions to replace them. Unexpectedly, this battalion only suffered more than 200 casualties in the entire battle, and most of the casualties appeared when attacking the German army.
The commanders and fighters of the first battalion quickly advanced along the street. In less than an hour, they could vaguely see the church where the German command was located. However, the troops were stubbornly resisted by the enemy here, and the Romanian army used the barricades on the street to stubbornly block them. The German army who rushed over to reinforce cunningly occupied the buildings on both sides of the street and opened fire on the Soviet soldiers on the street from a high place, posing great danger to the commanders and fighters of the first battalion.
Seeing that his subordinates suffered heavy casualties, Brisky was extremely anxious. He quickly ordered the troops to temporarily stop the attack and find a suitable place to hide. At the same time, he called the regiment commander Starcha and reported in detail about the situation encountered by his battalion.
After hearing this, Starcha immediately said to Brisky: "Comrade Major, your battalion is already very tired after several hours of fighting. If you continue to take on offensive tasks at this time, it is irresponsible for you. In this way, your battalion will remain unmoved for the time being, and I will send the second battalion to replace your attack."
Hearing Starcha's order, Major Brisky wanted to bite the bullet and say that he could continue to fight, but then he thought that one third of his troops had been injured and killed. If he continued to fight, he might be crippled. So he changed his mind and decided to follow Starcha's orders to keep the troops temporarily and hold on to the occupied area.
When Sokov came to the regiment command post, he happened to see Starcha explaining the mission to the second battalion commander Major Goria. After listening for a while, he found that Starcha had no detailed combat plan, but just told Goria: be afraid of sacrifice, bravely launch a fierce attack on the enemy's position.
Sokov didn't agree with this kind of death that asked the troops to die. He quickly coughed heavily to attract everyone's attention. Hearing the cough, Starcha realized that Sokov had come to his command post and quickly got up to salute him.
"Col. Starcha," Sokov raised his hand and said to him: "From the current situation, it is not a big problem for us to seize the city. What we need to pay attention to now is how to reduce the casualties of the troops during the attack."
"Comrade Commander," as Sokov's old subordinate, Starcha spoke much more casually: "Tell me, what should we do to minimize the casualties of the troops?"
"Let the first battalion be in its current position to carry out feint attacks on the enemy's defense line to attract the enemy's attention." Sokov said confidently: "For the other second battalion, the third battalion passes through the alleys on both sides of the main road and rushes directly to the German command. As long as you can take down the enemy's command, the enemy's resistance will soon collapse."
"Comrade Commander, some Germans are very stubborn. I am worried that even if the German command is captured, those enemies will continue to resist." Starcha asked in embarrassment: "What should we do then?"
"If the enemy does not surrender, then we will firmly destroy them." Sokov said with a stern face: "Our division is equipped with a large number of new rockets and bazooka. These weapons can be used in street battles. For example, if you see a large number of enemies fighting stubbornly in barricades, as long as a rocket flies over, they will be wiped out with the fortifications in an instant. As for the enemy's firepower points hidden in the building, use the bazooka. If you can't knock it off, use two. Do you understand, Major Goria?" His last sentence was said to Goria, the commander of the second battalion, who was about to command the troops.
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Goriya has been following Sokov for a long time and is still familiar with many of his tactics. He quickly replied: "Our troops will make full use of these rocket launchers, not only to eliminate the enemy's strong firepower points, but also to deal with German tanks."
"By the way, the German tanks." Sokov remembered that in the reconnaissance report, there was a German tank battalion in Donetsk, but so far, except for the two destroyed tanks in the east of the city, no other tanks have been seen: "Didn't it mean there is a tank battalion? Why haven't you seen a few tanks so far?"
"Comrade Commander, I don't know much about this." Starcha shook his head and said, "Our commanders and soldiers carefully observed it when they attacked, but no one found any trace of the German army."
As the new forces entered the battle, the situation on the battlefield developed in a direction that was conducive to the Guard Division. Major Goria's second battalion lived up to expectations and took the lead in attacking the church where the German command was located, captured the city defense commander Federman alive, and inserted the red flag on the top of the church.
Chapter completed!